Qantas cancels order for eight A380s

"Following discussions with Airbus, Qantas has now formalised its decision not to take eight additional A380s that were ordered in 2006," a Qantas spokesman said.

"These aircraft have not been part of the airline's fleet and network plans for some time."

Qantas has 12 A380s in its fleet and the spokesman said it would proceed with plans to refurbish the cabins starting in the middle of this year, with the jets set to remain flying with the airline "well into the future".

An Airbus spokesman said the manufacturer had agreed to the "contract amendment" announced by Qantas.

"This change will be reflected in our end January order and delivery tables," the Airbus spokesman said.

The Qantas spokesman declined to comment on the terms of the cancellation.

The decision comes as new doubts have been raised about the future of the four-engine A380. The world's largest passenger plane, the double-decker behemoth can carry as many as 853 passengers.

Willie Walsh, the CEO of British Airways parent IAG , said last week that Airbus should lower the price of the A380 if it wanted to sell more of them.

The A380 has a list price of $US445.6 million ($A627.6m), but airlines typically receive significant discounts from manufacturers